Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Receives $111.78 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $111.78.

VKTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $69,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $164,609,397.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,609,397.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 290,241 shares of company stock valued at $17,786,475. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $61,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $54.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -58.76 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $57.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.91. Viking Therapeutics has a one year low of $8.28 and a one year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.19) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company's lead drug candidate is VK2809, an orally available tissue and receptor-subtype selective agonist of the thyroid hormone receptor beta (TRß), which is in Phase IIb clinical trials to treat patients with biopsy-confirmed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, as well as NAFLD.